Light Punishment
by faytalbelgrl80
Summary: Fayt/Luther pairing. This is a piece my friend insisted that I do. I was skeptical, but I like it. Luther is super freaked about what will happen to him after he loses, and Fayt tries to help him through that, and gives him a pleasant alternative.


Ok, so I just did this because one of my best friends urged me to, but I more or less like the way it cam out. Its late a night, so I'm not really going to edit it right now, but I edited it before I transferred it, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with it. Let me know if you find anything. Enjoy!!!

Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me. I wish they did since I probably think about them more than their creators. lol.

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Luther had never really had a reason to fear anything. But now that the angel of destruction had come to his domain and defeated him, he was truly afraid for his life. Fayt was not the only tough one there. That whole group was something to be feared. They had defeated everything that Luther threw at them, and now they had defeated him.

Luther lay winded on the floor and gasping for air. He was beaten and he knew it. He conceded defeat and waited to be killed. He was dragged up to his knees by Albel, who then stood behind him, his sword in his hand. "Any last words, fool?"

Luther looked back at Albel and weakly shook his head. He didn't really have anything to say. Blair had passed out earlier from the stress of seeing her brother about to be killed, so he couldn't address her. There was no one else left.

Fayt looked down at the floor. "Oh no, he's really gonna do it. I can't believe this." Fayt suddenly gasped. "WAIT!!!" He shouted.

"What? I thought we agreed that this was the only way to save your planet and the universe." Albel was irked. Why was he not allowed to just get on with it?

"I'm sorry. I just got this really strong feeling just now. You know? Like the stuff that goes with my powers? Well, I think we need to keep him alive. Killing him would be a bad idea. I don't know what would happen, but it would be BAD!" Albel looked at Fayt and saw sincerity on his face. He wasn't lying about his feeling to avoid killing. This was real.

"Alright. What should we do with him, then? We can't leave him here."

"I guess we take him with us. We can fight over which country gets to question him later, but let's just get him to work on getting things back to normal for now. He should be able to reverse everything he's done with that computer." Fayt pointed at the computer behind Albel.

Luther picked that moment to chime in. "It would take a while to fix everything that's been done, at least a few days. I would have to manually fix all the files that were changed or deleted by the executioners and convictors."

"Then do it. Get started. Now." Fayt yelled, walking closer to Luther threateningly now that Albel had put his sword away.

Luther backed away in fright, right into Albel's legs. He was pinned. "Now, Luther. Reverse it. Reverse everything from the attack on Hyda until now. Make everything right."

"Okay, just don't hurt me." Luther typed into the early morning hours. "Listen, I can't do any more right now. My hand is killing me. I have arthritis, and I need to rest. Can I please take a break?"

Fayt yawned. "Rheumatoid? I have it too. There is something that you can do about it, you know. Here, try this." Fayt took off a bracelet that he had been wearing under his gloves and threw it to Luther. "This bracelet is made of a special type of stone that decreases arthritis pain when worn. No excuses. You _will_ be ready by morning to continue your typing. Understand?"

"Thanks. I'll try this." He had to admit that his arm already felt a little better. "Okay. Goodnight, then." Luther laid out on the floor and tried to get comfortable on the hard surface. That wasn't really possible. "Ugh." He turned over and was a little more comfortable. He took off his jacket and tucked it under his head. He finally drifted off to sleep a little before dawn and slept a little. Fayt got him up at 10, just as he said he would.

Luther yawned. "Damn, I'm tired. That was about the worst night of sleep I've ever had. I'm turning in before midnight tonight."

No sooner had he finished saying this that Fayt got in his face, officially scaring him awake. "You sleep when I say you do. Now, work." He put some emphasis on the last word to make his point. Luther backed away again.

Three days passed in this same routine. 5 hours sleep, 19 hours work. Luther felt indignant. It was ridiculous to make him work 19 hours in a row, and they hadn't even fed him yet. He thought he might possibly die of starvation before he was done fixing all of the problems in the Eternal Sphere.

Fayt was sick and tired of hearing Luther's stomach growl. He walked over and Luther cowered next to his computer. He didn't even have a chair to sit in. "Here." Fayt curtly handed him a bowl of Cheerios, and no milk. Luther looked at it questioningly, and Fayt knew what he was too afraid to ask. "I don't drink milk, sorry. We don't have any on hand. It's fine plain, though."

Fayt watched Luther continue cowering. Fayt wondered why he was so afraid. He _should_ be afraid of Albel. Fayt left the Cheerios to Luther and walked over to Albel. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess. Sure. What is it?"

"You intimidate people. Why is it that you think Luther is so petrified of me? If I even look at him he starts to hyperventilate." Fayt hoped that perhaps Albel would have some insight on this bizarre behavior.

"Because you are the 'angel of destruction.' He probably thinks you can annihilate him with one glance. Besides, didn't you say your planet had some awful torture techniques?" Albel smiled sadistically. Fayt's stomach turned.

"But there's a law against torture. I could be arrested and charged if I did anything." That was probably a good thing. Torture was hard to look at. Fayt didn't think he could actually do it. "Besides he seems to be cooperating for the moment."

"But he doesn't know that. You just have to give him the perception that you could put him in a world of pain and he caves." Albel still looked sadistic. Fayt sighed.

"Well, I can kind of understand that but still…" Fayt laid out and prepared to sleep. Luther would be watched by Nel and the sleep a few hours later. Fayt thought about how terrified Luther was of him. He decided he should be nicer. It wasn't necessary to keep up a charade after Luther fixed everything.

After another day, Luther was finished fixing all of the previously deleted "files and data."

"Okay, I'm done. Now what?" Luther gulped. He really didn't think he wanted to hear the answer to his question.

"You'll go to some country to be questioned. Do you have any preferences on which one? Klaus, Earth, Airyglyph, Aquaria? Which one? You'll stay there until you die. The only question is how long you live."

Luther looked down and thought about it. Any of the above would be horrible. The question was whether he wanted to be tortured for information and then live in prison until he died on Earth, or be tortured then killed on Klaus, or on Elicoor. All of them sounded like bad choices to him. He wished that they could just forget about it since he reversed it all. "Earth." Luther sounded downtrodden, like he had given up on life.

"Okay. Let's head to Earth then." Fayt got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Luther probably thought Earth would not torture him since it was more civilized than the others, but he was wrong. Earth still tortured, they just used different tactics to break someone… Fayt didn't want to think about anyone being tortured.

They went back to Mosel through the Firewall and into Peterney. They stayed there for a night. Fayt thought Luther might try to make a run for it, so he chained Luther's wrist to the bedpost and watched him until he fell asleep. He kind of looked cute when he was sleeping. Fayt tried to push that thought from his mind.

Morning came and the group went to Arias on the way to the portal in Kirlsa. The closer they got to Arias, the more upset Luther became. Fayt looked over at Luther. They had chained Luther to both Fayt and Cliff as a deterrent. He wouldn't try to run in that condition. He looked more upset with every step they took. Fayt knew why. He was scared.

Fayt elbowed Luther in the side. Luther shut his eyes. "Hey, it's okay. Just calm down. Earth isn't cruel. You'll be all right." Fayt nudged Luther again. "Okay?"

"Can't you just let me go? I put everything back the way it was. It's all back to normal. Is it really necessary for all this to happen. I didn't mean any harm. I'm just a game designer. I'm not evil, not like the other people in the prison."

Fayt looked down. He was sort of right. Everything was back to normal. It was like nothing had ever happened to anyone but the group. But he couldn't ignore the fact that something had happened. They could not just send him back to Sphere to wreck everything again. He still needed to be punished for trying to destroy the universe. "We can't ignore what you've done. Something has to be done about it. You sure can't go back to Sphere Corp."

"I could stay here or on Earth or whatever. I won't go back to Sphere. I won't mess with the universe as you know it. I'll live a normal life like one of you. I can fit in. I can change my clothes or hair. I just don't want to go live till the end of my life in some prison forgotten by everyone and hated until the day I die."

Fayt thought about it. "Fine. I'll agree to that with some conditions." Fayt spoke up so the rest of the group could hear. "Alright, you will live with me on Earth. You don't get a job until I trust you more. You follow me everywhere, like a shadow. If you try to run and I catch you, your ass is going straight to prison. You will spend at least a week in the solitary confinement ward of a prison of my choice, and if I don't think you've learned you lesson, you stay longer, and lastly, you will be chained to the bed every time you are not by my side from now until forever. If you can't live with those conditions, tough. It is not negotiable. Take it or leave it."

Luther didn't even have to think about it. At least in solitary confinement he was safe from the other prisoners. And a week was okay. People had gone crazy in less time, but he could make it. He'd think of freedom, and getting to see Fayt. Luther really couldn't admit it, but he liked Fayt more than the others. He was the only one to be nice to him this entire time.

"I accept. Thank you for your mercy."

"It's just because I understand about erasing the mistakes of your past. You shouldn't have to keep paying for it, once it's over. If I had no idea how you felt right now, you would be getting nothing. Consider my misfortune your luck. It may have saved your life." Fayt sighed.

"Alright, then. Let's go, I guess." Luther said boldly.

"You're still afraid, aren't you? It's just a week, and in solitary confinement no less. You will be fine. It'll be like a vacation. Why are you so afraid of prison anyway? It's not like it's an endless stretch, just 7 days. You can see the end already."

"I'll try to remember that when I've gone crazy. Solitary confinement makes people nuts. 3 days is like an eternity, and you want me to spend a week there? Don't you think that your 'light punishment' is a little much?" Luther was nearing hysterics.

"You're not getting off without going to prison for at least a week. You've done so much. You should be going away _forever_. So man up and accept your week. That's so light it's laughable."

When they got back to Earth, Luther was shipped off to prison for a week. When he got out, he was freaking out. When Fayt came to get him, he jumped out the cell into Fayt's arms. "I thought you would never come back. It felt like way more than a week. It lasted forever. And I had nightmares every night that you never came back and got me and you just left me here. I was so afraid. I don't ever want to be here again."

"Just calm down. I spent the week getting a guest room ready for you to stay in. You have a desk in there. And the bed is sort of plain, but plenty comfortable and warm. I will chain you up though, so no complaining when I do."

Luther cooled himself down slowly while Fayt drove him home. He couldn't believe it. His only punishment now was to follow Fayt around like a shadow forever. He could live with that. That was definitely a light punishment.

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I like the title, how about you? Bet it wasn't what you expected when you read the title. Hope you enjoyed it. Read and review.


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